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Radko Gudas signs three-year deal with Florida Panthers

By Ian Oland

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October 9, 2020 12:47 pm

Radko Gudas (AKA Gudy, AKA Dadko, AKA The Cheese Wheel, AKA The Mayor of the Toronto Bubble) has played his final game in Washington.

Friday, the beard-y, eight-year veteran signed a three-year deal with the Florida Panthers shortly after the start of free agency.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news.

Gudas will be paid $2.5 million per season, which is nearly a pay cut of a million from his previous salary of $3.35 million.

The Capitals landed Gudas before the start of the 2019-20 season in a player-for-player trade, sending Matt Niskanen to Philadelphia for the Czech defenseman and cap space. Gudas started strong and spent much of the season on the third pairing, but was eventually benched down the stretch after the Capitals acquired Brenden Dillon at the trade deadline.

Gudas quickly became a beloved player after spending most of his career beating up on Capitals players (such as Andre Burakovsky). Gudy literally fought for his new teammates in DC like Alex Ovechkin and Michal Kempny.

In May during the shutdown, Gudas was one of the few players who publicly went on the record and questioned the NHL’s efforts to come back to play during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think we shouldn’t play when the whole world is canceling seasons,” Gudas said. “Hockey would be the only team sport trying to power through it like this. They won’t let us go to the Olympics so we won’t get injured, but they want to keep the NHL season running in these times. If we kept playing, our sport would be swimming against the current a bit. Money is money, it’s what currently makes the world go round It’s a bit sad that they are willing to risk the health of so many players for money.”

In the same interview, Gudas revealed that he would not be brought back to the team after the 2019-20 season ended.

“I think there’s no chance [of re-signing with Washington],” Gudas said. “They are grappling with the salary cap. They have young players who will play under contracts more feasible for [the organization]. I think a lot of the guys with contracts about to expire will leave Washington.”

Gudas has scored 26 goals and 120 points in 479 games.

Good luck in Florida, Radko (except when you play Washington)!

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB

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